Varactyl

The Varactyl is a large repatavian species native to the planet Utapau, with several subspecies located on planets such as Kashyyyk. A fully grown adult Varactyl can reach up to four meters tall and fifteen meters long, as well as weighing in at as much as 1150 kilograms. Male and female Varactyl are easily identifiable, as the males have orange skin with brown feathers, while females have green skin with blue and green feathers.

Even though the species appear to be large carnivores, they are actually herbivores. Because of the many sinkholes dotting the surface of Utapau, the Varactyl have evolved extremely powerful five-fingered feet which allow them to scale the sinkholes and to run at high speeds across the planet's dry surface. Their powerful tails and armored skulls also helped mark them as ideal mounts for the native Utapauns. While not sentient, the Varactyl is extremely intelligent, with a memory that allows them to remember previous riders for long periods of time.

While in most species the male is the more colorful and flamboyant, this is not the case with the Varactyl. Even though male and female Varactyl's have crests and mid-body spine ridges, the colors on the males are rather dull, consisting mainly of dark shades of orange and brown. On the other hand, the females sport much more color in the bright blues and greens of their crests and spine ridges.